Bat tick found for the first time in New Jersey

Date:
September 9, 2020
Source:
Rutgers University
Summary:
A tick species associated with bats has been reported for the first
time in New Jersey and could pose health risks to people, pets and
livestock, according to a new study. This species (Carios kelleyi)
is a 'soft' tick.

Deer ticks, which carry Lyme disease, are an example of 'hard'
ticks.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
A tick species associated with bats has been reported for the first time
in New Jersey and could pose health risks to people, pets and livestock, according to a Rutgers-led study in the Journal of Medical Entomology.


==========================================================================
This species (Carios kelleyi) is a "soft" tick. Deer ticks, which carry
Lyme disease, are an example of "hard" ticks.

"All ticks feed on blood and may transmit pathogens (disease-causing
microbes) during feeding," said lead author James L. Occi, a doctoral
student in the Rutgers Center for Vector Biology at Rutgers University-New Brunswick. "We need to be aware that if you remove bats from your
belfry, attic or elsewhere indoors, ticks that fed on those bats may stay behind and come looking for a new source of blood. There are records of
C. kelleyi biting humans." This soft tick species, a parasite of bats,
is known to be in 29 of the 48 contiguous U.S. states, and was confirmed
in New Jersey as larvae collected from big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus)
in Mercer and Sussex counties. This is a new addition to the list of
New Jersey ticks.

While the public health risk remains unknown, "finding them on New
Jersey bats was an unusual event that prompted bat specialists to contact
us. Maybe these ticks are becoming more common," said senior author Dina
M. Fonseca, a professor and director of the Center for Vector Biology
in the Department of Entomology in the School of Environmental and
Biological Sciences.

In other states, C. kelleyihas been found infected with microbes that
are harmful to people, pets and livestock. There have been reports of
this soft tick feeding on humans, and the bat that hosts them regularly
roosts in structures such as attics and barns, underscoring the need to
learn more about them, the study says.

"This tick belongs to the family Argasidae, known as 'soft ticks'
because their body looks leathery and soft," Fonseca said. That is in
contrast to the "hard ticks" (family Ixodidae) that New Jerseyans are
more familiar with.

Scientists in the Endangered and Nongame Species Program of the Division
of Fish and Wildlife in the New Jersey Department of Environmental
Protection found the tick larvae on bats last year. Technically, this
is not the first time a soft tick has been reported in New Jersey. In
2001, a related tick species -- Carios jersey -- was found in amber in Middlesex County. That specimen was 90 million to 94 million years old.

"The next steps are to collect more soft tick specimens and test them
for disease-causing microbes," Occi said.

Rutgers coauthors include Andrea M. Egizi, a visiting professor in the Department of Entomology and a research scientist with the Monmouth
County Tick-borne Diseases Laboratory hosted by the Rutgers Center for
Vector Biology.

Scientists at the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife, Smithsonian Institution and Walter Reed Army Institute of Research contributed to
the study.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Rutgers_University. Note: Content
may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. James L Occi, MacKenzie Hall, Andrea M Egizi, Richard G Robbins,
Dina M
Fonseca. First Record of Carios kelleyi (Acari: Ixodida:
Argasidae) in New Jersey, United States and Implications
for Public Health. Journal of Medical Entomology, 2020; DOI:
10.1093/jme/tjaa189 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200909114801.htm

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